


A New Normal

by morningssofgold



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:54:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21840046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morningssofgold/pseuds/morningssofgold
Summary: A post 1x10 envisioning where Dani helps Malcolm deal with the aftermath of his kidnapping.
Relationships: Malcolm Bright/Dani Powell
Comments: 38
Kudos: 165





	A New Normal

It had been six weeks since Malcolm had been kidnapped and he was doing _fine_. If only he could get everyone else in his life to believe him. His mother found even more reasons to drop in on him unannounced, Ainsley called and texted incessantly, Gil warily watched his every move, and Dani–well, Malcolm found that he didn’t exactly mind her checking up on him. Dani always had a way of making him feel seen, never smothered. Malcolm shook his head. He wouldn’t allow himself to continue along that line of thought.

Malcolm thought of making an appointment with Gabrielle. Maybe talking it out with his therapist might help relieve the some of restlessness that seemed to have taken root within him but truthfully, he was in no mood to hear how having sex would be the answer to all of his problems. In fact, it had solved absolutely none of his problems. He grimaced, thinking of his failed attempt at normalcy. 

Normal would never be for him. Martin Whitly made sure of it and even if he hadn’t, Paul Lazar certainly did.

––––––––––––

Dani sat at her desk, looking down at the mountain of paperwork that needed her attention. For the past 15 minutes, she had been completely unable to focus as she kept sneaking glances at the conference room. Dani watched Malcolm, his head bent as he poured over cold case files. Instead of waiting for Gil to call him in, Malcolm had taken to giving his recommendations to cases that had long gone unsolved whenever they didn’t have a case to investigate. It worried her and she knew Malcolm hated people worrying over him but she couldn’t help it. Before his kidnapping, when they didn’t have cases to work, Malcolm was usually good enough to be left to his own devices but now, he was spending even more time at the precinct.

She had been the one to find him after nearly 72 hours of searching and though Malcolm’s injuries had been mostly superficial, Dani worried more about what Lazar had done to him on the inside. Dani knew Lazar had been close with Malcolm’s father and she couldn’t imagine what fresh torment had been unleashed upon his already fragile headspace. Malcolm had shown up to work merely a day after he had been medically cleared, much to Gil’s dismay, but Dani noticed what Lazar had taken from him even if no one else did. Malcolm was pristine as ever in his expertly tailored three-piece suits with nary a hair out of place but to her eyes, he just looked haunted and so very tired. 

Dani missed the way Malcolm’s ice blue eyes lit up whenever he managed to weave together all of the loose threads of one of their cases. She missed the shared looks that passed between the two of them at crime scenes, knowing that they were on the same page. She even missed his awkward jokes, the ones he always delivered with his signature smirk. Bottom line, Dani missed her friend. The man she was admittedly staring at was a mere ghost of the one she had known before and she hated it.

–––––––––––––

“Hey, it’s getting pretty late. You heading out?” Malcolm looked up from his cold case files at Dani standing in the doorway of the conference room, shrugging into her black leather jacket. He blinked at her a couple of times.

“Uh, yeah, I guess…” he trailed off, rising slowly.

“Well, come on then. I’ll take you home,” she says, helping him gather up the files from the table, putting them in their appropriate folders. Normally, Malcolm would bristle at someone going out of their way to look after him but Dani’s soft, patient smile made his heart clench painfully, reminding him of everything he had been trying not to think about since she found him.

––––––––––––

Dani always felt a little strange being in Malcolm’s apartment. It wasn’t that she was uncomfortable there–quite the opposite, it was that everything there was just so _him_. She took in the multitude of weaponry mounted on the wall, the parakeet twittering in the corner and his expensive furnishings. The apartment was the perfect mix of morose and refined, not completely unlike Malcolm himself. 

“You gonna be okay?” she asked as he threw off his suit coat and started loosening his tie, making his way into the kitchen. Dani followed him because once again, she was worried. She didn’t want to just leave him and if she did, she hoped that he would at least get the rest he desperately needed. Malcolm hadn’t said much on the ride over just like he hasn’t said much over the last month since he’d been back at work. Silence wasn’t like him, not when she’d gotten used to and grown fond of his manic energy and over-the-top confidence. 

“That seems to be the question of my life, doesn’t it?” Malcolm answered quietly, pouring himself a glass of water before reaching for one of the many prescription pill bottles that lined his granite countertop. “I’ll be fine though. Thanks for taking me home.”

Malcolm wasn’t facing her, but Dani could only imagine all of the secrets his eyes told that his words wouldn’t. She wanted to say something–anything to make him feel better. Dani couldn’t explain why as it wasn’t really like her but in this moment, she really _really_ wanted to hug Malcolm Bright. She would never call herself the hugging type but he had been through so much and she knew he was going through even more now. But she also knew that he didn’t exactly take to comfort very well and there was very little anyone could say or do when he got like this, when he shut down.

“Okay, then. I’ll see you at work,” Dani settled for giving his arm a squeeze, reluctantly turning to leave.

“Dani–wait!” She wasn’t prepared when Malcolm spun her around, stopping her in her tracks. Malcolm’s hands gripped her forearms and she could feel his tremors through the leather of her jacket. His ice blue eyes looked panicked, stricken even. Dani wasn’t sure what Malcolm was thinking about but she was suddenly reminded of the day she found him in Lazar’s woodland cabin that doubled as a torture chamber. She remembered how Malcolm crushed himself to her despite how broken and bruised he had been. How he had curled his entire body around her as though he wanted to make a home for himself inside her bones where he’d be forever protected from anyone who wanted to cause him harm. 

“Um…could you…” Malcolm trailed off, trying to get himself under control. He looked miles and miles away.

_Maybe he was thinking of that day too?_

“Stay?” Dani finished for him as she squeezed his hand reassuringly. She liked to think she brought him comfort that night, maybe she could do it again.

“Yeah. I’m sorry. It’s just…I feel safer when you’re around.” Malcolm nervously raked a hand through his hair, knowing just how much of himself he had revealed to her. He hadn’t expected to say anything like that but he couldn’t explain his irrational panic at the thought of Dani leaving him alone.

Dani smiled, hoping to calm his nerves. She had been around him enough to know exactly what that admission cost him. The utter sincerity and openness on Malcolm’s far too handsome face reminded her of the last time they were both here in his apartment. He vowed that she could trust him. She believed him then and she believed him now. She just didn’t expect the warmth that spread through her chest at hearing how she made him feel.

Malcolm answers her smile with his own, albeit a tiny and embarrassed one. “I promise I won’t make you sleep on the counter again. I have a spare bedroom upstairs,” he said, still a bit hesitant but for the first time in weeks, she saw a little of the spark return to his eyes.

“Um, Bright? Can I borrow some clothes?” She asked after a few minutes pass and neither of them have moved. His eyes widened in surprise and she fights back a smile. 

“Oh, right. Of course,” Malcolm recovers quickly, laughing a bit at himself. Dani follows him into the bedroom, watching as he disappears into a walk-in closet that’s quite honestly bigger than her bedroom. She notes the floor-to-ceiling rows of suits in several variations of black, slate gray and navy. He bends down, reaching into a drawer and pulling out a pair of plaid flannel pajama pants and threadbare shortsleeved shirt.“I hope these are okay. The bathroom is down the hall but I’m sure you remember,” he smirked as he handed her the clothes.

_There’s the Bright I remember_ , Dani thought to herself. 

––––––––––

When Dani vanished into the bathroom, Malcolm took the opportunity to change out of his suit and into some black sweats and a long-sleeved shirt. He walked out of the closet and back into the kitchen, taking a seat at the island feeling lighter than he had in a long while. _Hopefully, you don’t try to murder her_ , a cruel, mocking voice that sounded a lot like his father whispered in his head. 

No matter how well things appeared to be going for him, Malcolm was never far away from a reminder of his own personal failings. He shook his head as if to physically clear away the awful thought. He wouldn’t hurt Dani. He would _never_ hurt Dani. He would be wearing his restraints and she would be safely upstairs.

“You’re frowning.” Malcolm didn’t hear Dani’s soft footsteps approach him. He looked up and the sight of her in his pajama pants and old Harvard shirt jerked him out of the black hole that was his mind. 

He noticed that she’d even gathered her curls atop her head in a high ponytail, signaling that she was ready for bed. Malcolm was well aware that he was staring shamelessly. He was also aware that his heart was doing that painful clenching thing it had been doing far more often since she found him. Dani in his apartment, wearing his clothes looking like she belonged in this space just as much as he did, reignited all of those thoughts he kept fighting so hard to push away.

“Bright, you good?” Dani asks just as she often does. She sits down next to him, concern evident on her achingly pretty face. Malcolm forced himself not to reach out and smooth the knitted space between her brows. She thankfully misinterpreted his latest freakout to be about what it usually is as opposed to the growing _something_ he felt for her that he couldn’t or simply wouldn’t name.

__

__

“Yeah, totally,” Malcolm cleared his throat, flashing her a smile that she didn’t seem very convinced by. 

Dani studied him a bit longer but decided not to press him on it. “Please tell me you’re gonna get some sleep,” she said, changing the subject.

“You know I don’t need sleep”

She rolled her eyes, “Everyone needs sleep, Bright.”

“Then you know I’ll get my customary one hour at some point.”

“I thought it was two!” Malcolm realized the futility of arguing with someone who knew him so well. He remembered vaguely mentioning to Gil that he slept two hours and was fully functioning. He was sort of surprised and touched that she remembered.

“Dani, I’ll be fine.”

“You keep saying that,” she grumbled as she rose from the chair, knowing that there was virtually nothing she could say. Dani knew that Malcolm couldn’t sleep but now, it almost seemed like he wouldn’t. She wanted to ask him more about it but she wouldn’t get anywhere. She could see the walls going up back up behind those ice blue eyes and she felt oddly defeated. She thought she was getting through to him. She thought she was getting her friend back.

Malcolm watched as Dani started to make her way upstairs. He could tell she was tired. It had been a long day at work and she didn’t even get the benefit of sleeping in her own bed. He felt a pang of guilt reverberate through him. She was always taking care of him.

“Sweet dreams, Dani,” he called out to her.

“You too,” she said pointedly, something that earned the first smile that touched his eyes in weeks.

––––––––––––

Dani awakened to the sound of screaming, loud and agonized enough to wake the dead. It took her a couple of seconds to realize that she wasn’t at home in her bed, but in Malcolm’s guest room and the screaming she heard was coming from him. She threw off the covers, rushing down the stairs and into the bedroom where she saw Malcolm thrashing violently. His restraints kept his arms pinned to his side, not allowing him to escape whatever he imagined to be hurting him.

She hurried to his side of the bed, leaning over him, placing both hands on his shoulders. Malcolm continued to thrash even harder, mistaking her comfort for another threat. She was glad that the restraints kept him from accidentally striking out at her as his agitation only seemed to worsen. “Bright, it’s okay. I’m here, you’re safe,” Dani kept firmly yet gently repeating those words until his limbs stilled and the terror in his eyes shifted into recognition.

–––––––––––

Malcolm groaned as he popped the clasps of the restraints, his chest still heaving. He struggled to sit up and without thinking, Dani wrapped her arms around him.

“This must be getting pretty old for you,” his voice was muffled as it came from behind his hands where he held his head. Malcolm was too embarrassed to face her, this was the third time she had to save him from his own mind. He didn’t even plan to sleep but just knowing that Dani was in his home, allowed him to relax enough to drift off.

“It’s not your fault” she said softly, rubbing his back. He slowly turned to face her, momentarily forgetting for that for the second time in less than 8 weeks an attractive woman was in his home witnessing what an absolute basket case he was. Instead of the horror he’d seen prior, Malcolm saw what he always did when he looked into Dani’s big brown eyes; absolute understanding and a softness he could never quite believe was for him, “Was it Lazar?”

Malcolm nodded, admitting the reason why he didn’t want to sleep. Since he had been rescued, every time he closed his eyes; he saw Paul’s face, himself as a child and the girl in the box. At this point, he didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t. He didn’t even know if he himself was a murderer. His anxiety spiked and his breathing began to grow ragged right before he felt Dani coax him towards her.

He wanted to push her away, he doesn’t deserve what Dani’s offering but he selfishly allowed himself to find solace in crook of her neck. She smelled of Dove soap just like he remembered and he wraps an arm around her, drawing himself even closer. The steady beat of her pulse anchors him to the present. She was here, he was safe and no one could hurt him. That’s what she kept whispering to him over and over.

“You wanna know something?” he asked, his breath tickling the side of her neck. 

“Hmm?” Now that the crisis had been averted, Dani found herself getting sleepy all over again. Malcolm was very warm and so solid and she found that she quite liked having him in her arms like this. In a strange way, comforting him was comforting to her.

Malcolm smiled against her skin. He could tell she was starting to nod off on him, “When Lazar kidnapped me, the only thing that kept me from going insane was you.” The hand that had been gently tracing circles on his arm had gone still.

“What?” Dani leans back to look at him, now completely alert. She wasn’t sure of what he was getting at and Malcolm frowns at the loss of contact, feeling oddly bereft.

“The physical pain, that was excruciating but I could take it. The darkness inside, that was harder…” Malcolm trails off, unable to stop his voice from cracking as he tried not to get lost in those memories again.

Dani swallowed thickly but said nothing. Malcolm could see her eyes start to well up and he didn’t want to make her cry, especially since he knew she wasn’t a crier. He just wanted her to _know_. He was so good at pretending. Pretending to be fine. Pretending he hadn’t realized just how much Dani Powell meant to him. In that moment, he was tired of pretending, “It was _so_ hard but I knew that if I could see your face and hear your voice in my mind that meant I was still here.” 

Now, it was his turn to look at her. Malcolm watched Dani’s mouth open and close several times as she struggled to find the right words to say. So many emotions passed over her face at once that it was hard for him to get a read on them even as a profiler. Malcolm ducked his head and resisted the urge to retreat back into the safety of the crook of her neck, not wanting to see Dani’s face when she inevitably told him that he couldn’t feel that way about her or that she could only be his friend. 

Malcolm was so busy thinking of all the possible ways Dani could reject him that he didn’t notice her hand reach down and cup his chin, tilting his head up. His heart clenched again but this time it wasn’t at all painful and his eyes fluttered shut at the feeling of her fingertips sliding along his stubbled jawline, “Bright, I don’t know what to say.”

––––––––––––––

She truly didn’t. Dani had no idea how to respond to such a thing. She knew they had a connection and the depth of their friendship was unusual, especially considering the short amount of time they’d known each other but she couldn’t have imagined she meant that much to him.

“I’m sorry for making you cry,” Malcolm mumbled, those ice blue eyes looking at her with that same boyish sincerity she’d seen before, coupled with a tenderness she hadn’t. 

Dani breathed a watery laugh, she hadn’t even realized that she was crying. She never cried but Malcolm had a way of breaking and warming her heart all at once.The fact that the mercurial profiler himself had unexpectedly found a way inside her heart was a shock even to her. And of course, he was apologizing for that. For confessing something he obviously kept close to his own heart.

“I’ll let it slide just this once,” she said, leaning in, pressing a feather-light kiss to his lips. Dani knew she was crossing _so_ many lines but she didn’t know what else to do. She had to find some way to express that he wasn’t alone in feeling the way he did.

Dani pulled back–or at least, she tried to. She didn’t want to overwhelm him but Malcolm’s hand, the same one she’d once coined his “never-better” shaky hand had found its way to the side of her neck, holding her in place. His fingers lightly caressed her pulse point.

“Please?” his voice barely above a whisper, asking permission to kiss her back. She nodded, not trusting her voice.

–––––––––––––––––

Malcolm kisses Dani just as gently as she had kissed him before deepening the kiss. He attempted to pour everything into it that he’d left unsaid. He wanted Dani to feel his gratitude for everything she’d done for him. For taking care of him, for accepting him and for _saving_ him when no one ever had before.

He reluctantly pulled back, lovingly running a finger over her bottom lip. Malcolm had barely allowed himself to imagine kissing Dani and now that he could do it in earnest, he didn’t think he’d ever want to stop. Dani sighed as she rested her forehead against his. The restlessness that had long lived with him seemed to subside all at once, and he suddenly felt very foolish for believing that there could ever be anyone else but her.

“So…are we gonna sleep now?” Dani asked, her beautiful brown eyes sparkling. Seeing her like this, Malcolm was reminded of the time he first brought her tea. Earl Grey, her favorite. He’d rambled about Freud and she’d smiled knowingly. That was the moment Dani became _Dani_ to him and though he scarcely did anything about it after, that moment always came back to him, “I mean, that is why I stayed over after all.”

“Ahh…you’re right,” Malcolm playfully tugged on one of the curls that escaped her ponytail. “Night terrors and feelings just got in the way.”

Dani rolled her eyes, unable to hide her smile as she pulled him down with her while pulling up the covers. Pressing the side of her face into a pillow that smelled just like his shampoo, she was determined to get at least a few hours of sleep before Gil inevitably called them in to work. Malcolm shifted beside her, reclaiming his spot in the crook of her neck. The same spot he immediately went to when she found him.

Malcolm knew he was halfway laying on top of her, but Dani didn’t seem to mind as her arms wrapped around him once more. One of her hands carded through his hair. He felt as relaxed as he ever had but that didn’t stop that awful memory of the last time someone slept beside him from resurfacing, especially now that he wasn’t wearing his restraints.

“What’s wrong?” She felt him stiffen and he felt guilty for once again preventing her from falling asleep. 

“Um…I just thought of the last time someone was here.”

“Yeah, I don’t feel like hearing about your ex-girlfriend right now.”

He propped himself up on his elbow so he could look down at her, “Not even to hear how I almost stabbed her to death?”

“Not even then.” The tight line of her lips and the peeved glare she shot him, a look he was used to receiving from her at work, showed that Dani was very serious. He was impressed she could manage such a look as sleepy as she was. Malcolm couldn’t help but laugh and then laugh harder when he noticed that she was still glaring at him. 

He loved this woman more than she knew and one day he would tell her, just not on this night that had turned to morning. When he did tell her those three words he’d been holding on to for longer than he could admit, he would make it special because it’s what she deserved. There would be no mention of night terrors, kidnappings or accidental almost knifings. 

Malcolm realized that he probably would never have normal as most people thought of it. For the first time, he was perfectly fine with that. He gazed at Dani, who had finally drifted off to sleep and knew he would have so much more. Together, they would create a new normal.

**Author's Note:**

> OMG this is actually my first attempt at fic writing but I absolutely adore Brightwell and I have been so inspired by all of the amazing Brightwell fic writers and wanted to try my hand at how I'd imagine things to go in the second half of the season.


End file.
